Inspiration
Great idea's come from reality, you're influenced by events that are happening in your own life, ideas don't just come from inside your head.
Taking this into account I decided to look at some of the news and events that are happening throughout the world at this current time.
So at this particular point of time it is in fact Halloween. In America this particular holiday is massive and surprizingly for me a lot of money and effort is put into this. One thing I discovered was that people are infact pay a large amount to go into a 'Hauted House' to be scared. They are neither haunted nor, in most cases, houses but large hangars in which visitors walk through a series of horror film-style scenarios, while actors in zombie or vampire costumes attempt to scare the living daylights out of them.
This whole idea actually appeals to me, more physical scaring and is obviously much more affective. A way in which this could be turned into a Thriller may be that the actors actually do become murders or some kind of supernatural killers/scarers. People may start to disapear and nobody can answer for it.
Another thing I found in the news was 'Cyber Attacks' and cyber crime. The use of electrical equipment and 'not knowing whose behind the computer' kind of idea. Possibly also the misuse of computers and electrical products.
Monday, 31 October 2011
Paranormal Activity 3 - Hurtwood
The other day I went to go and see the new 'Paranormal Activity 3' film that is currently viewing in the cinemas.
I have seen the previous 2 films and also liked how they're filmed through the use of handheld cameras as I feel like I can relate to it more personally and almost includes the audience in the events that are happening. By doing this we are able to see what is happening through the characters perspective and understand it as they would.
I did think that it was an affective film and people around me felt on edge throughout, this was created by the use of suspense that continued throughout and finally climaxed at the end of the film. However personally I didn't feel very scared by this production.
There was a large amount of 'jump'ing moments which gave people, and myselff, a short scare. These were in fact quite affective as these points are remembered afterwards and then referred back too after viewing.
The ending of the film wasn't very memorable, I became slightly bored and uninterested towards the end which is a shame. I think it must have just dragged on a little longer than it maybe could have done or lacked in gripping elements. Additionally the overall response from my friends was fairly average, no one seemed to be overly impressed.
Despite this though I do think that the way that all 3 films have been constructed is cool. Each film is a prequel, showing what happened before the previous. Also I'd definitely consider including the camera shots and angles of home footage in my thriller as I feel like this is an affective way of scaring and helping the viewer to understand events that are happening.
I have seen the previous 2 films and also liked how they're filmed through the use of handheld cameras as I feel like I can relate to it more personally and almost includes the audience in the events that are happening. By doing this we are able to see what is happening through the characters perspective and understand it as they would.
I did think that it was an affective film and people around me felt on edge throughout, this was created by the use of suspense that continued throughout and finally climaxed at the end of the film. However personally I didn't feel very scared by this production.
There was a large amount of 'jump'ing moments which gave people, and myselff, a short scare. These were in fact quite affective as these points are remembered afterwards and then referred back too after viewing.
The ending of the film wasn't very memorable, I became slightly bored and uninterested towards the end which is a shame. I think it must have just dragged on a little longer than it maybe could have done or lacked in gripping elements. Additionally the overall response from my friends was fairly average, no one seemed to be overly impressed.
Despite this though I do think that the way that all 3 films have been constructed is cool. Each film is a prequel, showing what happened before the previous. Also I'd definitely consider including the camera shots and angles of home footage in my thriller as I feel like this is an affective way of scaring and helping the viewer to understand events that are happening.
Friday, 14 October 2011
The genius of all Thrilers....ALFRED HITCHCOCK - Hurtwood
'Always make the audience suffer as much as possible'
Alfred Hitchcock
He lived from the 13 August 1899 - 29 April 1980, in England he lived untill after his great successful career he decided to pack up and move to Hollywood (1956) where he became an Amercian citizen. It was here where he produced some of the best known Thrillers of all history:
> Vertigo
> Psycho
> The Birds
and many more...
“There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it”
What is Genre? - Hurtwood
A Genre is the way in which films are catagorized, based on what theme/topic they cover, the setting, mood or format.
Codes and Convections are also included in this and they are seperated into 3 distinct areas:
- Symbloic (clothing, colours, settin...)
- Technical (camera shots and techniques)
- Written and Audio (dialouge, music..)
These give the overall text meaning and also determines the response of the viewer.
Additionally, there are also 'Sub-Genre', this is includes:
- Characters
- Locations
- Plot / Events
This is in place so the audience have an expectation over what they will find.
Codes and Convections are also included in this and they are seperated into 3 distinct areas:
- Symbloic (clothing, colours, settin...)
- Technical (camera shots and techniques)
- Written and Audio (dialouge, music..)
These give the overall text meaning and also determines the response of the viewer.
Additionally, there are also 'Sub-Genre', this is includes:
- Characters
- Locations
- Plot / Events
This is in place so the audience have an expectation over what they will find.
What really is a THRILLER? - Hurtwood
A thriller is a movie that creates a feeling of suspense and mystery, as the famous ‘Alfred Hitchcock’ said ‘There is an intellectual process and an emotional process’ both of which are very separate. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between these two. Intellectual process is the ‘Who Dun It’, it’s the rational rather than the emotional, it’s appealing and engaging. Unlike the Emotional process where it’s the viewers reaction to the film.
When I asked some people what they thought a Thriller was, I had a mixture of responses however many of them used the same describing words.
Some of these are:
• Scary
• Worried
• Anxious
• Anticipation
• Tension
• Dramatic
• ………
As you can see they are all similar in a particular way. None of them are feelings that someone would necessarily choose to have on a day-to-day basis, even if they did they would soon adjust to these feelings and in turn not find particular things 'thrilling' which of course is my aim when it comes to creating our own clips.
When I asked some people what they thought a Thriller was, I had a mixture of responses however many of them used the same describing words.
Some of these are:
• Scary
• Worried
• Anxious
• Anticipation
• Tension
• Dramatic
• ………
As you can see they are all similar in a particular way. None of them are feelings that someone would necessarily choose to have on a day-to-day basis, even if they did they would soon adjust to these feelings and in turn not find particular things 'thrilling' which of course is my aim when it comes to creating our own clips.
In my thriller I Want the audience to feel those feelings, I'd like my viewer to feel like its had an impact on them in a particular way. Maybe it can impact different people in different ways for different reasons. It needs to be dynamic so that a range of people enjoy it, however of course sticking to my target audience is key.
Soon I will be thinking about incorporating these elements and points in more depth and hopefully produce a successful scene that people will enjoy watching!
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Study of 'Grave Encounters' Trailer - Hurtwood
http://youtu.be/g8FBRATbJoA
Grave Encounters is a film directed by 'The Vicious Brothers', set inside an abandoned Psychiatric Hospital where an unexplained phenomena has been reported for years.
This type of Thriller is the kind that really gives me the 'Heebie-Jeebies' (also known as the chills) and I think its truly down to the non-diagetic music, sound effects and emphasised dialogue that really adds to the suspense. For example the blood-curdling scream and crashes of props are all very sudden and put the viewers on edge. Additionally the random airy sound affects and simplistic music all adds to the tension, and this is again emphasised by the rising speed in tempo and increasing volume.
In addition, significant and informative phrases help the viewer to recognise the importance of the events that are happening.
These are obvious and powerful ways of showing key points.
Another way in which this trailer is affective is how the majority of the shots are filmed by hand, giving us a more personal view of the events and therefore making the viewer feel more involved and consequently more scared.
This trailer, I feel is very effective in the way that it captures the viewers attention by the lack of hightened sound. Personally, since watching this I now want to see the film and this proves that this trailer is a success.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
'Let the Right One In' Swedish Movie Trailer Analysis - Hurtwood
Okay, so for my first 'Forgien' movie clip analysis I chose to look at 'Let the Right One in'. This is a Swedish film made in 2008, directed by Tomas Alfredson and is about a overlooked and bullied boy called Oscar who finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire.
Although this clip has little dialogue the uneasy atmosphere and tension is created by the chilling music that is played over the top. It has a variety of pitches and tempo and where it increases in speed or volume we understand that this is an important and 'scary' area to the film. In addition to this, throughout there are some props used and the sound of these props are emphasised by the music quieting and the action of the prop broughout up in volume. A good example of this is when the boy is stabbing the tree with the knife:
The sound alone is enough to give someone the chills. Sound effects such as the blood being sucked and the body falling etc...puts people off immeadtely, However this is what Thriller's are supposed to do. Scare people.
Also the majority of the images that are shown have only children in and when these characters are mixed in with a variety of violent scenes including blood and dead bodies the audience immeadiately feel uneasy.
The lack of dialogue used in the trailer isn't a bad thing. I think that this helps to emphaise the importance of the words that are used and doesn't over shine the affect that the music has to the viewers.
Overall I think that this is a very successful trailer and I'd also recommend the film to those who havent seen it.
Although this clip has little dialogue the uneasy atmosphere and tension is created by the chilling music that is played over the top. It has a variety of pitches and tempo and where it increases in speed or volume we understand that this is an important and 'scary' area to the film. In addition to this, throughout there are some props used and the sound of these props are emphasised by the music quieting and the action of the prop broughout up in volume. A good example of this is when the boy is stabbing the tree with the knife:
The sound alone is enough to give someone the chills. Sound effects such as the blood being sucked and the body falling etc...puts people off immeadtely, However this is what Thriller's are supposed to do. Scare people.
Also the majority of the images that are shown have only children in and when these characters are mixed in with a variety of violent scenes including blood and dead bodies the audience immeadiately feel uneasy.
The lack of dialogue used in the trailer isn't a bad thing. I think that this helps to emphaise the importance of the words that are used and doesn't over shine the affect that the music has to the viewers.
Overall I think that this is a very successful trailer and I'd also recommend the film to those who havent seen it.
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Learning to use 'Final Cut Pro' programme - Hurtwood
So in a previous post I spoke about the Preliminary task that we did which involved us shooting a short piece with two characters. Our next task was to start editing the shots together and create a continuous and flowing clip.
Nobody in our group had had any experience with this editing programme, 'Final Cut Pro' so it was all new and slightly confusing to use to start with, however it wasn't massively difficult to grasp the main features once we got stuck in.
To start with we had to import our video files onto the programme, then we'd be able to manipulate the clips and produce our final clip.
The first tool we where introduced to was 'the bin', which isn't as you would expect a 'trash bin' to use to get rid of unwanted files etc.. but infact it is the name for a 'new folder' - this proved to be slightly mind boggling.
Cutting the video's shorter was fairly simple, you would just hover over the end or front of the preferred clip and then drag to the area of which you'd like to cut to. All straight forward, however there would be times where the clip wouldn't sit in the correct place, so you'd then have to use the 'snapping'. This made you're cutting more precise and accurate.
Also another main feature which is very useful is the 'Soundbridge'. This is used when you want to seperate the sound from its image, so you are able to overlap other silent clips with a different audio.
There are many other endless feautres on this programme, some more extreme than others, but the above ones mentioned are simple, easy and frequently used because its their common tools.
Nobody in our group had had any experience with this editing programme, 'Final Cut Pro' so it was all new and slightly confusing to use to start with, however it wasn't massively difficult to grasp the main features once we got stuck in.
To start with we had to import our video files onto the programme, then we'd be able to manipulate the clips and produce our final clip.
The first tool we where introduced to was 'the bin', which isn't as you would expect a 'trash bin' to use to get rid of unwanted files etc.. but infact it is the name for a 'new folder' - this proved to be slightly mind boggling.
Cutting the video's shorter was fairly simple, you would just hover over the end or front of the preferred clip and then drag to the area of which you'd like to cut to. All straight forward, however there would be times where the clip wouldn't sit in the correct place, so you'd then have to use the 'snapping'. This made you're cutting more precise and accurate.
Also another main feature which is very useful is the 'Soundbridge'. This is used when you want to seperate the sound from its image, so you are able to overlap other silent clips with a different audio.
There are many other endless feautres on this programme, some more extreme than others, but the above ones mentioned are simple, easy and frequently used because its their common tools.
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